Repsol Honda team head home to Japan with first match point for Marquez

After a difficult race in Aragón, Spain, where late rain caused havoc in the dying laps and for the first time in 36 races (Misano 2012) a Repsol Honda rider failed to take a podium finish, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa are en route to Japan for the first of the three fly-away races.

Located amongst the vast natural beauty of the northern Kanto district, the twin ring circuit at Motegi in Japan consists of a 1.5 mile oval and a 2.9 mile road course constructed to international standards. Built by Honda as the ultimate test facility in August 1997, the road circuit became home to MotoGP in 2000. Marc won here in 2012 (Moto2) and 2010 (125cc) and finished 2nd in 2013 (MotoGP) and 2011 (Moto2). Dani has enjoyed three victories – 2012, 2011 (MotoGP) and 2004 (250cc), one 2nd place finish in 2005 (250cc) and three 3rd positions in 2013, 2009 and 2008 (MotoGP).

This weekend will serve as the first chance for reigning World Champion, Marc, to retain his crown. With a margin of 75 points over second place Dani, a win in Motegi would seal the Championship. A finish other than 1st would then rely on the final placement of his competitors.

TEAM QUOTES

Marc Marquez

Championship Standing: 1st – 292 points

“Aragón was a difficult situation and we learnt a valuable lesson. However, we were lucky that we didn’t lose points to our rivals and now I know that in Japan it’s my first chance to take the Championship. I will try not to think about it too much – even if I know it would be great to achieve this on Honda’s home soil – we will go there and work hard from day one and treat it as a normal race weekend and push for the victory on Sunday. Last year was my first visit to Motegi on a MotoGP machine and it was a very difficult weekend, so we hope to have more dry track time this year to find a good setup!”

Dani Pedrosa

Championship Standing: 2nd – 217 points

“Obviously Aragon was a tough race and in the end I made the wrong choice not to come in earlier. Anyway, we have moved on and now I am focused on Motegi. I always enjoy travelling to Honda’s home race, it’s a big event for Honda and this always gives me extra motivation to perform well. The track has a lot of heavy braking and acceleration points, so a good setup is essential for the braking stability and to get good traction out of the corners. Let’s hope the weather is better than last year!”